Climate change also caused a significant decrease in the number of fruit trees in Austria

Vienna: According to recent Austrian research, the country’s fruit-bearing tree population has significantly decreased, and fruit farming has also drastically decreased.

In 1930, there were 35 million fruit trees, including apples, pears, and cherries. By 2020, there were only around 4.2 million.

According to research by the Austrian Federal Chamber of Commerce and the Federal Association for Fruit Farming, the effects of climate change on fruit trees are to blame for the decline in agricultural output and the decline in fruit farming.

Key contributors were found to include extreme weather occurrences, including drought stress, high summer heat, winter frosts, severe thunderstorms with substantial rainfall, and floods.

Data from Austria’s 2023 Agricultural Structure Survey, which presented a dismal image of the fruit-growing industry, was also included in the analysis. Between 2017 and 2023, the overall area used for fruit production decreased by 14%, with notable decreases in the areas planted to apples, apricots, cherries, nectarines, peaches, and strawberries.

According to the study’s findings, conventional fruit-growing methods would be especially vulnerable to drastic and hazardous changes in fruit farming if temperatures rose by two to three degrees Celsius.